President Biden raised eyebrows after delivering a bizarre comment during his speech to union officials in Washington, D.C. In an attempt to relate to the blue-collar audience, Biden highlighted his humble beginnings, where his family and relatives shared a small three-bedroom house. The president made a seemingly intimate comment that he didn’t know how his father managed the “thin walls” with everyone crammed into the tiny home.
“You know, I come from, a household with a three bedroom … we weren’t poor, but we didn’t have anything leftover at the end of the month. But, you know, three-bedroom house, four kids, grandpop live with us. Someone lived with us full-time. I look back now, wonder how my dad handled those thin walls,” Biden told the crowd.
The speech took place at the AFL-CIO headquarters in the nation’s capitol, where President Biden is trying to recover ground and reassure Democrats that he can defeat former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election and serve a second term. The union event also overlapped with the NATO summit in Washington, which Biden would later attend.
In the opening remarks of his speech, the president referred to the union audience as his “domestic NATO,” praising the organizations for their insight into the domestic economy and interest in representing the working class. Biden and Trump have been intensely competing for union votes, particularly in swing states, ahead of the election.
“One literally, and I mean this sincerely, is NATO. NATO, a joint assembly of democracies that made sure we’re keeping the peace and no one’s going to screw around with us, as strong as it’s ever been. And I think you as my domestic NATO, not a joke, not a joke. You’re the ones, you’re the ones beyond me. And you know, you know this better than I do beyond me. It’s all about whether or not we’re going to grow the economy, whether we’re going to give working people a shot,” Biden said.
Biden further emphasized the role of the middle class in building America, stating, “You’ve heard me say it a thousand times. I’m going to say it again. The Middle Class built this country. You built the middle class. Oh no, no, by the way. I don’t want to hurt your reputations, but even Wall Street’s acknowledging your power. No, I’m serious. Look at every projection about what we want to do with the economy, on the issues that we’re talking about, and what the other guy wants to do, they’re supporting us. It’s your agenda we’re working on.”
Watch Biden’s remarks below:
While Biden vies for critical blue-collar union support, The American Tribune reported earlier this year on indications that union members, who have traditionally voted Democrat, are abandoning the left and turning to former President Trump. Steamfitters union apprentice Jason Murray explained that he had observed a major shift in support with his union.
“Just four years ago you could even see that our union, they said to support… Biden, and then immediately the week after he got into office and took over, laid off 10,000 of our workers. Some of my brothers,” Murray told Fox News host Jesse Watters. He added, he continued. “So it’s like you say, Democrats, you’re here for the working man, yet here you’re trying to give our jobs away to people that don’t even have legal status here yet?”
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